U.S. Wants Bitcoin Trade Data from 6 Korean Banks

The New York State Department of Financial Services recently asked Korean regulators to share information gleaned from a probe of the cryptocurrency dealings of six Korean commercial banks.

The DFS supervises banks, insurers and other financial institutions.

According to financial industry sources on Friday, it asked Korea's Financial Supervisory Service and Financial Intelligence Unit last week to share the results of a probe of Industrial Bank of Korea, KB Kookmin, Korea Development Bank, NH Nonghyup, Shinhan and Woori banks to see if they were abiding by anti-money-laundering regulations.

It also asked to see the banks' internal regulations on cryptocurrency dealings.

"There's a lot of concern from foreign governments about the regulations being imposed on the cryptocurrency trade," a government official here said. "With the Korean government conducting on-site inspections and establishing guidelines, financial regulators in New York seem to be gathering information for research purposes."

But there is also a possibility that U.S. financial authorities want to check the possibility of North Korea using Bitcoin trading to launder money.